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(01/08/01 6:17am)
Coming into Sunday's home game against sixth-ranked Purdue, the women's basketball team was white hot. After two consecutive losing seasons, it stood atop the Big Ten. \nThe Hoosiers' only losses came at the hands of undefeated Ole Miss and perennial powerhouse Louisiana Tech, which was ranked eighth at the time.\nIn road games, the Hoosiers began conference play by walking all over Ohio State, 65-56, and Michigan State, 71-54. They held off Minnesota in overtime, 79-76. Every week, they picked up more votes in the Associated Press poll, peaking at No. 27. \nJunior center Jill Chapman, the Hoosiers' leading scorer and rebounder, was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the second time this year Jan. 2.\nInstilling the importance of strong defense, new coach Kathi Bennett's rebuilding efforts were working much faster than anyone anticipated.\nWhile no one now mistakes the Hoosiers for the cellar-dwellers they have been, Sunday's game could have established IU as a legitimate contender in the Big Ten. And it almost certainly would have given them a top-25 ranking.\nThe Hoosiers had all the momentum. Scheduled after the sold-out men's game against top-ranked Michigan State, the game drew 3414 attendees, the largest crowd for the women's team in several years.\n At the beginning of the season, there were more empty seats in the first five rows than there were fans. Waiting for the tip-off, the Hoosiers could only look around in amazement.\n Despite that momentum, the Hoosiers ran head-first into the Boilermaker Special, falling to their in-state rival 67-59.\n Purdue roared to a 37-21 lead at halftime. Employing a full-court press and playing very physical defense, it kept the Hoosiers to 38.5 percent shooting from the floor during the first half.\n"We played very helter-skelter," Bennett said. \nThe Hoosiers turned the ball over 14 times.\n"It's nothing we hadn't seen before," said junior point guard Heather Cassady.. "But they were really up there in our face."\nWith Chapman benched because of foul trouble, Purdue dominated in the paint, out-rebounding the Hoosiers 17-11. \nFans streamed out at halftime, writing the Hoosiers off. While the Boilermakers widened their lead when the second half opened, the Hoosiers soon regained their composure. IU then stopped Purdue at the defensive, igniting a 27-9 run that got the Hoosiers within six. The crowd got back in it, many fans screaming at the top of their lungs.\nBut the rally fizzled out.\nPurdue coach Kristy Curry said she admired the Hoosier's resilience.\n"We just played our best ball out there," she said. "I have a lot of confidence in this program. They'll be a force in the Big Ten, y'all. They're for real"
(01/08/01 5:48am)
What had been a quiet Friday afternoon at Victor Settle's downtown jewelry store became a nightmare for the store's owners, when two young men stormed through the front door at 3:50 p.m. brandishing 9 mm semiautomatic handguns. \nThey immediately had everyone's attention.\nOne man herded everyone into a back room, where the victims were forced to the floor at gunpoint, according to police reports.\nEveryone complied, but an employee tripped the silent alarm in the process.\nOne of the men rifled through the jewelry and watches behind the counter, stuffing everything he could grab into a backpack. He also seized a watch and cell phone from customers.\nThe other man stood guard at the door, hauling two new customers into the back room. Another unidentified woman stepped through the door, saw what was happening and quickly walked away. One man chased her down the street, jammed his gun to her ribs and dragged her back to the store. Several times, the men threatened to kill her.\nThe men fled the store, ducking into an alley as the first squad car reached the scene. \nThe first officers on the scene, William Crays and John Kovach, chased two suspects on foot. They fled north to Kirkwood Avenue, then east for half a block and then south through a pedestrian alley by the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre. \nThe robbers had discarded their weapons, which were later recovered. One gun was left in a bag at the store, the other tossed away in an alley. \nSix officers cornered two suspects near Fourth and Washington streets. \nThat is what the police reports tell of the arrest.\n"I was very apprehensive," said Capt. Bill Parker, who was on the scene of the arrest with his gun trained on one of the men. "When you consider how many civilians were nearby, I'm just grateful they didn't start shooting."\nPolice arrested Indianapolis resident Brishon Bond, 27, and a man who claims to be Charles Wade Brown, 23, also of Indianapolis. Brown carried no identification. Both are IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis students.\nSgt. Bob Neely was the first officer to enter the store, where he found owners Victor and Marie Settle lying on the floor with employees and customers.\n"We're glad that no one got hurt," Marie Settle said. "We just shudder to think at what could have happened."\nBrown and Bond face preliminary charges of 10 counts of confinement, three counts of armed robbery and one count of possession of a firearm without a license. If convicted on all counts, the standard sentence for each would be 30 years.\n"We basically threw the book at them," Parker said. "We charged them for each individual forced in the back room and for each theft."\nParker said the county prosecutor may also charge them with possession of a firearm during a felony. \nBond is being held in the Monroe County Correctional Center in lieu of $100,000 surety and $10,000 cash bond, while Brown is being held without bond, according to jail records.
(01/08/01 3:59am)
Throughout December, a plain flier stood out among the cluttered bulletin boards at the post office, 206 E. Fourth St.\nIn large, bold-faced type, it advised patrons to "stock up on one-cent stamps now."\nThose who didn't might regret it, because they're now once again in demand.\nThe Postal Service's 1-cent stamp price hike goes into effect today, raising the cost of sending a letter to 34 cents. Other postal rates will go up as well, by about 5 percent on average.\nPriority mail rises from $3.20 to $3.45 for the first pound, and the first half pound of express mail jumps from $11.75 to $12.30. Flat-rate packaging goes from $3.20 to $3.95.\nLines at the Post Office Friday afternoon snaked into the lobby, as people crowded to beat the deadline.\n"What affects most customers will be the cost of mailing a letter," Bloomington postmaster Larry Jacobs said. "Historically, prices go up every two or three years."\nWhile the stamp went up a penny in 1999, it's been four years since the Postal Service last increased rates across the board. Run like a regular business, it hasn't received a single federal tax dollar since the first term of the Reagan administration.\nAlthough it's expected to break even over time, it carries a $3.5 billion deficit, built up during years of operating in the red. \n"It's just the right amount at the right time for the Postal Service to maintain universal service and lead us into the new millennium with the best performance, planning, technology and management systems," Einar V. Dyhrkopp, chairman of the Postal Services board of governors, told The Associated Press.\nThe price of a stamp has risen 32 cents since the turn of the century.\nWhile the Postal Service brought in record profits during the 1999 and 2000 fiscal years, rising fuel and wage costs led to the hike. The government agent's main competitors, Federal Express and the United Parcel Service, both raised rates last February.\n"We face the same obstacles as businesses," Jacobs said. "We are subject to increases in fuel and airline costs, and we have the largest fleet of vehicles outside the Department of Defense."\nThe rate increases were first proposed last January. The process for instituting them took the regular 10-month period. After the Postal Service gathers its financial data, it must be reviewed by several independent boards to determine if an increase is necessary.\nAs it traditionally has, the Postal Service's board of governors held off with the hike until after the busy holiday season.\nGeneric stamps will be used until the new 34-cent ones are released. The first celebrates the Chinese New Year. It features a paper-cut design of a snake adorned with traditional Chinese calligraphy.\nThe interim stamps are less elaborate, depicting old stand-bys such as the flag, the Statue of Liberty and flowers.\nMeanwhile, the demand for single cent stamps is expected to leap.\n"We have plenty of one-cent stamps," said post office retail specialist Phil Zook. "We're prepared for the change"
(12/11/00 6:18am)
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has concluded that new state regulations wouldn't have prevented the White River fish kill last December.\n"We think the existing laws are sound and effective," said Tim Method, IDEM deputy commissioner.\nThe department released a six-page report Thursday, ordered by the General Assembly to know what new laws could reduce the likelihood of another ecological disaster. State lawmakers, who will be back in session Jan. 8, hoped the report would provide insight on how to better respond to such situations.\n"The objective of calling for the report was getting IDEM to do a self-examination and flush out any problems they had and hope they are not repeated," said state Rep. Jim Atterholt, R-Indianapolis, who wrote the legislation.\nAlthough the report was supposed to be "comprehensive," Atterholt regards it as a success in spite of its brevity.\n"It's a step in the right direction," he said.\nThe fish kill, which left 117 tons of dead fish, unfolded last December in Madison County, which lies just northeast of Indianapolis. An unknown pollutant passed through the Anderson wastewater treatment plant, spreading more than 50 miles through three counties.\n Around Christmas, IDEM commissioner Lori Kaplan said the department believed the contamination came from a chemical discharge at Guide Corp., an automotive parts manufacturer. Given the high levels of ammonia detected in the river, IDEM traced it back to a metal-finishing chemical used at the Guide plant.\n By April, the state of Indiana and the Environmental Protection Agency had filed separate suits against Guide, which are still pending.\nSince then, the state Department of Natural Resources has stocked the river with 1,937 adult game fish to spawn and plans on restocking it with more than 300,000 bass, bluegills crappies and catfish. Not-for-profit environmental organizations will fund the effort. Biologists will continue to survey the river to see if more fish should be added.\nThe report ends with a 24-page appendix, including 17 pages outlining a written protocol for response to future environmental crises.\nDuring the fish kill, IDEM drew criticism for failing to announce the problem until nearly two weeks had passed. Health officials in downriver Anderson County first learned of the problem from reporters inquiring about dead fish washing up on shore.\nAs for policy recommendations, the report calls for the state to play a larger role in regulating industrial wastewater pretreatment plants. Currently, federal environmental authorities oversee the regulation.\nSpecifically, the report proposes that IDEM staffers dealing with pretreatment operators be increased from two to six. But the report cautions that stepped-up local monitoring of pretreatment operators "will not guarantee that incidents such as occurred on on the White River in December 1999 will not happen again"
(12/08/00 5:56am)
A minor earthquake shook the Evansville area Thursday morning. Hitting shortly after 9 a.m., it registered a 3.85 on the Richter Scale and occurred at a depth of three miles.\nA quake of magnitude 4 could have caused moderate but extensive damage.\nWhile the quake forced elementary and high schools to evacuate, no injuries were reported. Police said there were no accounts of major fires or significant structural damage to buildings.\nInitially, about 50 residents in Evansville and nearby Posey County reported broken gas lines, said Southern Indiana Gas & Electric spokeswoman Mary Beth Reese.\nBut upon investigation, gas company workers, police and firefighters found no gas leaks.\n"That turned out to be unfounded panic," said Adam Groupe, deputy director of the Vanderburgh County Emergency Management Agency. "The people smelling gas were having an emotional reaction to the shock."\nReese said the gas company paid particular attention to the downtown business district, where several concerned residents called in. \nHaving dispatched only on-duty officers and emergency units, Groupe said the overall damage was minimal.\n"There was no actual damage worth speaking of," he said. "A few bookcases and trophy cases were knocked over. All the windows were rattled, but that was it."\nIt was the largest earthquake to hit Vanderburgh County, the most populous region in southwest Indiana, in recent memory. An earthquake of 2.9 magnitude occurred in 1985, and one earlier this year measured 2.5 on the Richter scale.\n"Given the size, it could have been very serious," said Gary Parvis, a professor of geological sciences. "It's one of the larger ones we've had for a while in a city the size of Evansville."\nAfter studying the seismic data, Parvis concluded the quake originated at the Posey-Vanderburgh County line, near the Ohio River.\nThe earthquake, Parvis said, was associated with a series of faults in the Lower Wabash Valley that stretch from Evansville north to Vincennes. He stressed that quakes are common in the area, which lies in New Madrid, a fault zone running through the southcentral part of country.\n"We have earthquakes of this scale in southern Indiana about once a year," he said. "It might happen on this scale once a week in California, but it's still not unheard of here."\nParvis said New Madrid is historically a hotbed of seismic activity. While most active in Missouri and Arkansas, it has brought large quakes in the vicinity.\nEarthquakes registering more than 5 on the Richter Scale have struck southcentral Illinois twice during the past four decades, causing substantial damage. \n"The risk isn't zero," Parvis said. "Most people don't know this, but over the past 20,000 years, southern Indiana has had five or six fairly significant earthquakes."\nIt's only a matter of time before a larger quake strikes, Parvis said.\n"We're lucky it wasn't bigger," he said. "Hopefully, now people will be better prepared, take precautions like securing water heaters and using more flexible and stronger pipes"
(12/07/00 5:38am)
Kroger announced it is recalling ground beef products that might carry E. coli bacteria from its 2,300 stores nationwide, including three Bloomington locations. \nThe grocery chain, the largest in the country, is asking consumers to check for any Kroger brand ground beef dated Nov. 4 through Nov. 22. It can be returned to any store for a full refund or replacement.\n"It's just a precautionary measure," said Gary Rhodes, a spokesman at Kroger's corporate headquarters in Cincinnati. "We are not aware of any confirmed illnesses from any Kroger stores."\nAmerican Foods Group, a Wisconsin-based meat supplier, is recalling about 1.1 million pounds of beef sent to 15 states. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommended the recall Wednesday as a precautionary measure after the Minnesota Department of Health linked an E. coli outbreak to the company. \n"Although no product that came directly from our facility has been found to be contaminated with E. coli, circumstantial evidence raises the possibility that recent serious illnesses may be related to our product," said Carl Kuehne, chief executive officer of American Foods Group, in a written statement. "We are very concerned for the people who have suffered illness and their families." \nWhile Kuehne stresses there is no direct evidence of American Food Group's culpability for the outbreak, he said it would be better to err on the side of caution. \n"American Foods Group wants to assure everyone that product safety and quality are, and always have been, foremost in our operations," he said. "We will continue to cooperate fully with food safety authorities in an effort to identify the source of contamination that caused these illnesses."\nHealth officials recently reported 22 cases of the illness in the Twin Cities area, tracing it back to ground beef sold at local Cub Food stores. Confined to St. Paul and Minneapolis, the cases were all reported between Nov. 11 and Nov. 24.\nThe outbreak has also spread to Wisconsin, where officials identified three residents with diarrhea associated with the same strain of E. coli. Two women in Eau Claire County, Wisc., and a male in Brown County, Wisc., reported diarrhea and stomach cramps, said Jim Ryder, Eau Claire County health officer. \nRyder said the state is still waiting on a bacterial sample from a third woman in Eau Claire who came down with similar symptoms.\nThough no meat samples tested positive for the bacteria, the Minnesota Health Department also fingered American Foods Group for an outbreak in December 1999, during which five people were hospitalized.\nThe onset of illness, Ryder said, can range from two to eight days after eating tainted beef. It can lead to Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, a potentially lethal kidney disease accompanied by bloody diarrhea.\nAnyone exhibiting symptoms of E. coli should immediately consult a physician, Ryder said. It should not be treated with antibiotics, which could cause further complications.\nProper handling of ground beef can avert E. coli infection. According to the USDA, E. coli is destroyed when ground beef is thoroughly cooked to an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees.
(12/05/00 5:08am)
Let us all sing the praises of Zorba the Greek. \n Hail Zorba, for he is mighty. \nActually, Zorba wasn't all that mighty. \nHe didn't stand, spear in hand, and defend his city-state to the death from the Persian hordes. He didn't cup a fallen comrade's head in his hand and weep. Nope, he's the title character in Nikos Kazantzakis' novel -- a miner with a zest for life. \nAn Englishman inherits a small fortune and moves to the isolated island of Crete. He befriends Zorba, and learns meaningful life lessons watching him carry out his day-to-day activities. \nIt's a simple plot. Surprisingly enough, it was adapted into a somewhat popular film not too long ago ... well, if you consider 1964 not too long ago. \nIt seems an Englishman always portrays any foreign character in a film intended for American audiences. I'm not sure why that is -- foreign but not too foreign would be my guess. Anthony Hopkins played some Spaniard named Picasso. Jeremy Irons played a Hungarian Jew in that god-awful movie about Franz Kafka.\nI've decided to write about Zorba because of this diner I used to haunt. I loved Zorba's, the dark lighting, for I could buy bacon and eggs for about $3 at any time of the day, the absence of a nonsmoking section.\nThe waitresses were always friendly, and you could kill as much time as you wanted reading The Chicago Sun Times. If you were with friends, no one would complain about how loud you got.\nThe truth of the matter is that I'm trying to write about anything other than Al Gore. Every two-bit pundit has weighed in on the matter. Gore ought to throw in the towel, some say. Gore ought to show the nation how far divorced from reality he is, others clamor. Gore ought to sue the voters of Tennessee, others insist.\nBut everyone agrees on one thing -- Gore is the vice president.\nYes, the vice president. The associate president if you will.\nAfter eight years in that office, I'm sure Gore just wants to give back. He's not dragging the thing out because he's ambitious -- no, it's a matter of idealism.\nSince he named Sen. Joseph Lieberman his running mate, they've clearly developed a close personal bond. Surely, Gore is risking his political future and credibility for Joe's sake. That's the kind of friend he is.\nGore was bored with the whole senator thing back in 1988, when he first decided to run for president. During the Democratic primary, he cleaned up in the old confederacy, but the Democratic National Committee settled on Michael Dukakis, the only male dorkier than George Bush Sr.\nBut a young upstart from Arkansas showed up on Gore's door four years later. He had a lot of personal baggage, but Bush had fouled up the economy something wicked. So Gore signed on, and his life was forever changed.\nInstead of moping around in all of those committee meetings, Gore got to wave to crowds a lot. He got to stand in front of flags.\nGore wants to share all that with Joe. Nobody really wants to be crummy old president anyhow, when all you get to do is veto stuff.\nYes sir, it looks like Gore will tie this up in litigation for a while. And it looks like George W. Bush will end up occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.\nThe sad thing is, Bush probably accidentally cast his vote for Pat Buchanan.
(12/04/00 5:24am)
In exchange for the dismissal of a murder charge, Gregory K. Cox pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder Thursday.\nThe plea bargain agreement dictates a sentence of 75 years in prison, with 15 suspended.\nThe Monroe County Prosecutor's Office charged the 34-year-old Detroit resident with murder in connection with the Sept. 23 shootings at the former Country Club Apartments at 1004 W. Country Club Lane. Police described the shootings as "drug-related."\nThe victims testified that Cox entered the apartment and started firing, police said. Called in at about 10:20 a.m., police found Illinois resident Sherry King, 44, dead on the scene. Three Bloomington residents, James A. Crouch, 19, Randy Osmer, 18, and Karin Koonce, 18, were wounded by gunfire. At the time of the shooting, Koonce was six weeks pregnant.\nThey were all shortly released from the Bloomington Hospital in good condition, said Lisa Aldridge, patient care director.\nPolice arrested Cox at a home on South Rogers Street, where he had gone with two other young Detroit residents. The officers found a .32 caliber revolver, which they said was consistent with bullets and casings at the crime scene. More than three grams of crack cocaine were later discovered stashed in the back of the police car in which they were transported, according to police.\nThe investigation by the Sheriff's Department has not confirmed that the incident was a drug deal gone sour.\n"We know that drugs were a catalyst," said Sgt. Jerry Reed. "We know that they were on drugs, and drugs were involved. But beyond that, it would be inappropriate for me to comment."\nJudge Marc Kellams ordered them to leave town immediately for Detroit and not to return.\nCox has been held without bond in the Monroe County Correction Center since September. He was charged with one count of murder, three counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of more than three grams of cocaine with intent to distribute. \nIn court Thursday, Cox pleaded guilty to attempting to kill Crouch and Koontz.\nMonroe Circuit Court Judge David Welch accepted the plea agreement submitted by chief deputy prosecutor Mary Ellen Diekhoff and deputy public defender David Collins, under which the other charges were dropped.\nDiekhoff said a murder conviction would have been difficult because Cox was under the influence of drugs at the time, so she settled for a plea agreement to ensure a conviction.\nThe sentencing will take place Jan. 5. With 15 years suspended, Cox will serve two consecutive 35- and 40-year sentences. If he serves all of his time on good behavior, he'll be eligible for parole in 30 years, at the age of 64.
(11/30/00 5:47am)
Yes, that\'s correct boys and girls - Christmas is upon us, descending faster than a cock-eyed bird of prey on some poor carcass in the hot Nevada sun. \nChristmas, that neopagan holiday celebrating materialism, our most holy lords Old Navy and Ikea. Christmas, that elevation of consumption to its most high and glorious throne. \nScholars of antiquity believe the term Christmas derives from the "Chris" in Holy Scripture, believed by many to be actor Chris O'Donnell of "Batman and Robin" fame. As the phrase runs, if the shoe fits...\nChristmas -- time of the holiday blockbuster.\nIt\'s not to be confused with the summer blockbuster, which is generally more nihilistic and violent. Not nihilistic in the sense that it doesn't affirm the moral order. No, the good guy always triumphs in the end. Justice is served, the drug smuggler gets shot in the face at point blank range and the camera fades as our hero rides off into the sunset. \nNihilistic in the sense that there's seldom a plot. The poor screenwriters must not get paid enough, or all be dyslexic or something.\nThe summer blockbuster doesn't need a plot at any rate. It's all about the CGI -- the computer generated image. \nSo a nuclear weapon vaporizes a large city. Even if the filmmakers have national security clearance, it's a rather expensive stunt to stage, one studios might not throw their dollars behind. Also, it eliminates a perfectly good market.\nSo instead a virtual air strike annihilates millions of innocent people who only exist in a computer chip somewhere. Ditto with a comet or meteor, since not even Steven Spielberg is an omnipotent god who can exercise his will over the vast universe. Beyond all that, wholesale slaughter doesn't get good press, which is needed for that all-important opening weekend.\nNo sir, no indeed, the holiday blockbuster is a different beast altogether.\nIt's sappy, it's feel-good. It warms the cockles of your heart. \nThrough the most conniving sort of manipulation, you can bet your eggs.\nLet's briefly look at this year's dismal lineup. \nWe have "102 Dalmations," the cleverly titled sequel to "Spartacus." We watch Glenn Close play a colorblind and eccentric designer. She makes her living designing fur coats, the morally reprehensible monster. \nShe is oblivious to the fact that she is in a Disney movie, with a bunch of anthropomorphized animals, at once cute and endearing. Animals that look nice on McDonalds soft drink cups and children's pajamas.\nOf course, the ever so subtly named Cruella De Vil ends up getting her comeuppance, being subjected to all sorts of "Home Alone"-inspired malarkey. We all leave the theater with a very valuable lesson -- it's OK that a person be tortured and humiliated in madcap fashion so long as harm doesn't come to a single puppy. After all, puppies are cute.\nAnd then we have a movie in which Tom Hanks plays a castaway. It's called either "Castaway" or "Lethal Weapon 6," I forget which.\nIt's not a sappy film, like "102 Dalmations." It's a sappily inspirational film, like the Olympics. Or better yet, the Special Olympics.\n"So Tom Hanks is stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere," you might say. "Well, good."\nBut no, Tom Hanks isn't just revisiting the emotional maw of "You've Got Mail," that movie that showed us all that we can find true love without any actual human interaction. In his latest flick, he's showing us that the human will can persevere, tough out the bleakest situations. I'll bet there wasn't even any Evian on that island.\nThank you Tom Hanks, thank you for giving meaning to my otherwise monotonous and arid existence. Thank you for brightening time I'd otherwise have to spend with my family. The debt I owe to you.
(11/30/00 5:08am)
The Hoosiers and the Kent State Golden Flashes came into the Tuesday's contest at Assembly Hall undefeated.\nSomeone had to go down.\nIt wasn't the Hoosiers.\nAnd it wasn't even close.\nThe Hoosiers stormed to a 79-42 romp, handing Kent State (2-1) its worst defeat since the 1983-84 season, when it fell to West Virginia by a 38-point margin.\n"I don't want to make any excuses," said Kent State coach Bob Lindsay. "They played better than us. The combination of them playing well and us playing poorly is what resulted in the final score."\nThe Hoosiers are now 6-0 in their preconference season. \n"We have cohesion, and we're playing really well together," said coach Kathi Bennett. "We're confident, and we're playing hard. I think it's a combination of those things."\nThe Hoosiers' pressure defense paid off, as they held Kent State's starting guards to five points for the game, one field goal in 11 attempts from the floor. Coming in, senior Carrie Nance and freshman Lori Krezeczowski combined to average 23 points per game.\nSo the Golden Flames kept the ball down in the post. Centers Julie Studer, a senior, and Andrea Csaszar, a freshman, scored 30 of their team's 42 points.\n"I'm so pleased with what we did defensively," Bennett said. "We thought we could pressure their guards and we just did exactly that."\nIU jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first five minutes. The Golden Flashes consistently doubled down on junior center Jill Chapman, the Big Ten's Player of the Week and the Hoosiers' leading scorer at 13 points per game. Chapman kicked the ball outside for a few wide-open jumpers.\nWhen triple-teamed on one occasion, she somehow found freshman forward Charliss Ridley for an easy layup, lobbing it over the back of her head.\nRidley wouldn't be in the game much longer. Driving into the lane, she came down hard on her left knee. Though she later subbed in for a few minutes, she perceptibly hobbled. Ridley's status for this weekend's tournament games in Houston is still uncertain.\nAfter jumping out of the gate, the Hoosiers hit a draught, not making a field goal for six minutes. But junior guard Heather Cassady tallied up nine points, reviving the Hoosiers' offense.\nNot playing much in the second half, she ended the game with 12 points and four assists.\n"I've had games where I haven't shot very well," Cassady said. "Tonight, I wanted to come out and get things going."\nAt halftime, the Hoosiers led 36-21. For Kent State, it only got worse. With only five players in reserve, a tired squad allowed the Hoosiers to blow it open with a 23-4 run to open the second half.
(11/30/00 5:00am)
Yes, that\'s correct boys and girls - Christmas is upon us, descending faster than a cock-eyed bird of prey on some poor carcass in the hot Nevada sun. \nChristmas, that neopagan holiday celebrating materialism, our most holy lords Old Navy and Ikea. Christmas, that elevation of consumption to its most high and glorious throne. \nScholars of antiquity believe the term Christmas derives from the "Chris" in Holy Scripture, believed by many to be actor Chris O'Donnell of "Batman and Robin" fame. As the phrase runs, if the shoe fits...\nChristmas -- time of the holiday blockbuster.\nIt\'s not to be confused with the summer blockbuster, which is generally more nihilistic and violent. Not nihilistic in the sense that it doesn't affirm the moral order. No, the good guy always triumphs in the end. Justice is served, the drug smuggler gets shot in the face at point blank range and the camera fades as our hero rides off into the sunset. \nNihilistic in the sense that there's seldom a plot. The poor screenwriters must not get paid enough, or all be dyslexic or something.\nThe summer blockbuster doesn't need a plot at any rate. It's all about the CGI -- the computer generated image. \nSo a nuclear weapon vaporizes a large city. Even if the filmmakers have national security clearance, it's a rather expensive stunt to stage, one studios might not throw their dollars behind. Also, it eliminates a perfectly good market.\nSo instead a virtual air strike annihilates millions of innocent people who only exist in a computer chip somewhere. Ditto with a comet or meteor, since not even Steven Spielberg is an omnipotent god who can exercise his will over the vast universe. Beyond all that, wholesale slaughter doesn't get good press, which is needed for that all-important opening weekend.\nNo sir, no indeed, the holiday blockbuster is a different beast altogether.\nIt's sappy, it's feel-good. It warms the cockles of your heart. \nThrough the most conniving sort of manipulation, you can bet your eggs.\nLet's briefly look at this year's dismal lineup. \nWe have "102 Dalmations," the cleverly titled sequel to "Spartacus." We watch Glenn Close play a colorblind and eccentric designer. She makes her living designing fur coats, the morally reprehensible monster. \nShe is oblivious to the fact that she is in a Disney movie, with a bunch of anthropomorphized animals, at once cute and endearing. Animals that look nice on McDonalds soft drink cups and children's pajamas.\nOf course, the ever so subtly named Cruella De Vil ends up getting her comeuppance, being subjected to all sorts of "Home Alone"-inspired malarkey. We all leave the theater with a very valuable lesson -- it's OK that a person be tortured and humiliated in madcap fashion so long as harm doesn't come to a single puppy. After all, puppies are cute.\nAnd then we have a movie in which Tom Hanks plays a castaway. It's called either "Castaway" or "Lethal Weapon 6," I forget which.\nIt's not a sappy film, like "102 Dalmations." It's a sappily inspirational film, like the Olympics. Or better yet, the Special Olympics.\n"So Tom Hanks is stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere," you might say. "Well, good."\nBut no, Tom Hanks isn't just revisiting the emotional maw of "You've Got Mail," that movie that showed us all that we can find true love without any actual human interaction. In his latest flick, he's showing us that the human will can persevere, tough out the bleakest situations. I'll bet there wasn't even any Evian on that island.\nThank you Tom Hanks, thank you for giving meaning to my otherwise monotonous and arid existence. Thank you for brightening time I'd otherwise have to spend with my family. The debt I owe to you.
(11/28/00 5:34am)
They counted. They recounted.\nThey recounted again -- by hand.\nMaddeningly enough to those in the Al Gore camp, Texas Gov. George W. Bush maintained his sliver of a lead in the Sunshine state.\nThey could keep counting and counting and counting -- by hand or foot or any other appendage -- until November 2004. But when the dust cleared, Bush would still be ahead by five or six votes. On the plus side, "Sesame Street" will be able to continue to milk this electoral fiasco for free publicity. \nIt's only a matter of days before Larry King has the Count as a guest on his program. Before you know it, we'll no longer have to worry about public broadcasting eating away our hard-earned tax dollars.\nBut alas, the vote was certified Sunday, and Bush has Florida's 25 electoral votes, giving him the presidency. Of course, Gore will be mounting a legal challenge, contesting the results in a few Democratic counties. \nIt so turns out, The Associated Press informs us, that uncounted ballots not filed by the deadline might give Gore the edge. But still, it'll be an uphill struggle for the vice president.\nYep, looks like Bush the Younger has got this one in the bag. While we fought the Revolutionary War against another aristocratic George with questionable legitimacy to govern, it's unlikely that people will take up arms on behalf of a "raging moderate." A raging moderate who'd brazenly lie if you asked him the time.\nNo, the endgame battle in this affair won't be fought out in the streets, with Molotov cocktails and citizen's militias. It'll be one of litigation and lawyers.\nGore is pursuing a legal challenge because he sincerely wants to ensure that every vote counts -- except, of course, absentee ballots cast by military personnel in favor of Bush. \nBush has also stood firm on principle. Throughout his campaign, he expressed skepticism about Washington, the federal government and judicial activism. So he's filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to have Gore gains in the manual recount thrown out.\nBut he trusts the people -- unless of course they're Democratic election officials in Palm Beach or Miami-Dade. \nAnd in making their cases, both sides prattle on about "the will of the American people" or "the will of the voting public." For the love of all that is good and holy, 48 percent of voters sided with Gore, 48 percent with Bush -- neither has any right to talk about popular mandates.\nBut Bush seems to have hobbled together a slim victory in the electoral college. Sunday, he gave his acceptance speech, which strung together every cliche in the book like beads on some hippie's necklace. It was truly a touching moment. \nOf course, nobody cares any longer -- no one at all. NBC didn't even bother to interrupt the network debut of "Titanic" for what was probably a historic moment. \nBut personally, I grimaced while watching the address on CNN. My stomach has turned at the aristocratic smugness of Bush throughout this entire electoral fiasco. He seems to think he's "won" this election, because he "received more votes." What nonsense.\nAnd Bush isn't pleased with how it has stretched on, repeatedly calling for Gore to concede. He knows Gore would do anything to win, including cannibalize his immediate family members. He knows Gore's not about to back down. Being such a nice guy, he'll even settle for a retraction of the retraction. \nBush believes it was all over at about 2:30 a.m. Nov. 8. Yeah, it was a crazy night, but even under the fuzziest math, 270 equals 270. Like the back-biting jackals of the media, he's attacked the networks for causing all this confusion by irresponsibly calling Florida too early. \nLet's think this over. The networks call states by conducting exit polls, asking people who they voted for after they exit polling stations. More than 22,000 ballots intended for Gore were thrown out. Bush's lead is 500-some votes. Yes indeed, that's journalistic inaccuracy for you. That's the Chicago Tribune announcing that Dewey is the next president. \nIn four years, you can bet that'll I'll be at a voting booth to oust his fraudulency from office -- by voting for as many other candidates as possible.
(11/27/00 7:20am)
Playing four games during the course of the week, the women's basketball team didn't enjoy the luxury of time off this holiday break. \nBut they had plenty to be thankful for. \nThey've leaped to their first 5-0 start since the 1994-95 season.\nThey won the Holiday Inn/Fazoli's Classic Saturday for the eighth consecutive year, roughing up the Brown (R.I.) Bears with a 72-63 win at Assembly Hall.\n"I just feel like we toughed it out tonight," coach Kathi Bennett said. "We got the win and tried to play hard. We just weren't as crisp and sharp."\nThe Hoosiers held Brown (2-2) scoreless for the first five minutes, never trailing in the game. But IU kept Brown in the contest by missing open shots, especially in the paint. For the game, the Hoosiers made 30 field goals in 74 attempts.\n"I felt we started out defensively really well, but we weren't making shots," Bennett said. "Because we were holding them and getting steals, I think if we had that explosion where we were making shots in the beginning of the game, we could have broken it open a bit earlier."\nMidway through the first half, the Bears clawed their way back in it, going on a 23-15 run. Bears' guard Tara Williams sunk back to back three-pointers, cutting the Hoosiers' lead to 31-29.\nBut that's as close as they came. Coming off a 34-29 halftime lead, the Hoosiers exhibited more energy in the second half. A flurry of threes from freshman guard Anna Waugh and junior guard Heather Cassady brought the Hoosiers to a 17-point lead. \nCassady, who finished with nine points and was named to the all-tournament team, showed a lot of acrobatic finesse on the fast break. After having evaded two defenders to make an underhanded layup in the first half, she outdid herself by finding senior forward Rachael Honegger on a drive with a no-look, behind-the-back pass for a wide open jumper. \n"One of my goals this year is to have more assists," Cassady said. "And I think that when I penetrate and dish it off, I have players that I can rely on to make the shots." \nAnd the Hoosiers saw more than a few open courts over the course of the game, forcing 29 turnovers. With the Bears double-teaming the high-scoring junior center Jill Chapman, the guards also took it to the paint more than usual.\nWhile Chapman was held to a season-low six points, 6-foot-4 sophomore forward Erika Christenson stepped up, scoring 10 points and pulling down three boards in 18 minutes of play. \n"I was just really happy with the way that the guards were getting us the ball and swinging the ball around," Christenson said. "That broke down their defense. I know it helps a lot when (senior guard) Rainey (Alting) and the other guards drive, it pulls our defenders."\nChristenson wasn't the only one on the Hoosier bench to come through. The reserves outscored the starters 41-32. \n"I think our depth will be our key as far as how well we do this season," Bennett said. "If we continue to have that great strength and intensity when we rotate, if we sub or get in foul trouble, that's going to be the key to the season." \nIn their first tournament game, the Hoosiers walked over the Furman (S.C.) Lady Paladins 78-62. The Paladins' zone defense proved ineffective, and a 17-2 first half run put the nail in the coffin. Although they had moderate success after switching it to man-to-man, the Paladins (2-1) never recovered. \nAlting claimed the tournament's MVP title. She finished the two games with 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Beyond that, she played aggressive defense, holding Brown guard Barbara Maloni to 12 points.\nMaloni, who's quick and known to turn a steal into an easy layup, came into Assembly Hall averaging 29.5 points per game.\n"I was surprised, actually, to win MVP," Alting said. "But I'm happy and excited about it."\nThe Hoosiers play next against Kent State Tuesday at Assembly Hall. It will be the fifth game they'll play in eight days.\n"I think most of us are pretty tired, but we've shown a lot of toughness," Alting said. "I think we're going to have to work through this together and that's what we've done so far. I think we're really looking forward to a break"
(11/27/00 6:21am)
Tom Paine\'s short story "Will You Say Something Monsieur Eliot?" details the saga of a smug and wealthy Princeton grad on top of the world. The piece kicks off Paine's sparkling debut collection of fiction, "Scar Vegas."\nEverything in life has been presented to Eliot on a silver platter. But his luck turns a sharp 180 degrees one fateful day. When out sailing off of the Florida coast, a fierce storm lays waste to his yacht. After drifting on his mast for days, he's picked up by a boatload of Haitian refugees.\nThey\'re ecstatic to see him. Their sail also fell victim to the storm, and they\'re sure that the half- starved Yankee will be their ticket to shore. And so they nurse him back to health and pamper him as best they can.\n"Alphonse let go of Eliot\'s foot and returned to his box. A wrinkled woman shuffled over and poured a few drops of water into Eliot\'s mouth from the good edge of a broken glass. A few minutes later a young girl carefully poured a few drops into his mouth from a rusty can. Alphonse watched them and nodded from his box. Eliot kept his mouth open, and one by one Haitians came to him and offered a few drops of their supply."\nTime passes, and their already meager supplies dwindle.\nMuch to Eliot's horror, his companions begin dropping like flies. \n"On the night of the seventh day, Eliot heard more bodies going over the side. Those that went with a splash and grunts Eliot knew were already dead, but many more went with a sucking sound and Eliot knew those had jumped, and some cried out and there was no question. Alphonse sat with\nEliot all day on the eighth day and even found a few drops of water for his lips. On that night, the bodies again jumped or were dropped over the side, and Alphonse came to him at dawn and held Eliot\'s foot gently in his hands."\nEventually, help arrives in a helicopter. Eliot is taken aboard, while the Haitians are left to a watery grave.\nIt\'s a heavy-handed story, one of many in the collection.\nPaine likes to drive home his political points with revved-up bulldozer.\nBut one could hardly expect subtlety from someone who\'s adopted the name of a revolutionary known for his rabble-rousing oratory.\nLeaning to the radical left, Paine dedicates the book to "Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Nigerian writer and activist hanged (in 1995) for our insatiable oil gluttony." Imperialism is a subject he regularly returns to.\nIn "The Hotel on Monkey Forest Road," a man in a bar relates an anecdote about a developer who tried to import Palm Trees to the Indonesian island of Bali. The tribal elders arch their eyebrows and eventually force him to understand their ways.\nSet during the Gulf War, "The Battle of Khafji," raises the question: "Is it still a war if nobody dies on one side?" "A Predictable Nightmare on the Eve of the Stock Market First Breaking 6,000" concerns a brokerage executive getting her comeuppance on the Mexico border.\nThough it certainly bows, Paine's flair for imaginative storytelling doesn't crack under the weight of his political messages. While his prose is as punchy as Hemingway's, his real talent lies in yarn-spinning.\nIn the title story of the collection, he basically riffs off an urban legend long in circulation.\nA man accepts a drink from a woman at an airport bar. Later, he finds himself waking up in a bathtub full of ice short of a kidney, now out in the black market.\nIn the ideological microcosm of his work, Paine probably wanted to illustrate the extremes of greed. But the propagandistic overtones are overshadowed by the simple fact that it's an engaging story. And beyond that, he manages to draw out the humanity of the subject, an ex-con on his way to his sister's wedding. \nHe's the sort of character Paine sympathizes with -- the underdog, the run-down soldier, the world-weary cowboy. Paine clearly hopes to give voice to the disenfranchised through his fiction. \nA former mental ward orderly and journalist who now teaches creative writing, Paine will doubtless toil in obscurity. Che Guevera just doesn't have the same charisma in a bear market.
(11/21/00 4:34am)
It's been expected since September.\nBut still, the news hit hard.\nGeneral Electric told 735 employees at its Bloomington refrigerator factory Thursday that they'll be laid off Dec. 15. To meet with more stringent energy-efficiency standards effective next July, GE is downsizing and shipping 1,400 jobs to Mexico, where wages are lower.\nAll workers at the plant with less than 10 years seniority are on the layoff short list.\nGE, the largest manufacturer in Monroe County, announced in mid-October that it might give out as many as 870 pink slips by the end of the year. Normal attrition cut down on the number of layoffs, a spokesman said.\n"We haven't replaced those workers that have gone into early retirement or transferred to other plants," said Terry Dunn, a spokesman for GE's appliance division. "We understand how hard this is. And we want to do everything we can to show our commitment to the workforce and the people."\nThe severance packages include a week's pay for each year of service and a year's worth of medical benefits. GE is also preferentially hiring workers at its other plants and paying for job training, Dunn said.\n"We're not talking about jobs," Dunn said. "We're talking about real people, and we're very concerned. We're taking this very seriously."\nAbout 250 of those laid off, Dunn added, were temporary workers hired to meet short-term production goals.\n"Ultimately, we're talking about fewer than 500 longer-service employees," he said. "We hired these workers after the announcement, and they knew what to expect."\nAfter negotiations with the labor union and the city failed, GE announced Dec. 10 it would eliminate 1,400 jobs. Still, the company said it would invest $100 million in the plant to enable it to continue making side-by-side refrigerators.\n"All of the equipment in the plant will be obsolete under the new energy standards," Dunn said. "We're making a very serious investment to preserve the factory, to preserve 1,800 jobs." \nWhile the side-by-side refrigerators will still be made in Bloomington, the lower-volume models will be made in Celaya, Mexico. The plant is already up and running and doing test production runs. To complete the transition, about 500 to 600 more jobs will be eliminated before June, Dunn said.\nSteve Norman, president of Local 2249 of the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers, bristles at the business decision.\n"This plant has always been profitable," he said. "And it will continue to be profitable. This is just an instance of corporate greed."\nBut Norman's hands are tied. The union's members denied him authorization to strike in a close vote this May. \nGE's cutbacks are only the latest blow to the county's manufacturing base. Otis Elevator and Thomson Consumer Electronics have laid off thousands in the last few years.\n"We have low unemployment and many job opportunities," said Nathan Hadley, executive director of economic development for the city. "But with all the layoffs in traditional manufacturing we have to realize that the economy is undergoing a transition"
(11/21/00 4:11am)
The thick scent of sulfur hung in the air, as a lone construction worker hauled charred remains into a big yellow excavator Thursday afternoon.\nA pile of blackened debris is all that's left of the the long abandoned building at 119 S. Walnut St., which formerly housed the Lung Cheung Chinese restaurant.\nA fire gutted it Tuesday, causing its second floor and roof to collapse.\nOn the scene until 3 p.m. Wednesday battling spot fires, firefighters called in a demolition crew in the interest of public safety. The building, fire prevention officer Steve Cottingham said, was too unstable after the ravages of the blaze.\n"After a fire like this," he said, "the walls are literally ready to fall, with all the glass shattering into the street."\nThe cause of the blaze has not yet been determined.\n"The kitchen area is on the lower level, six or so feet below grade," Cottingham said. "It's almost like a basement. With the intense heat and smoke, we didn't feel it was safe going down."\nWhile a limited physical exam couldn't confirm the exact cause, fire officials believe it was an electrical fire originating in the kitchen. The building's gas had long been shut off, but it still had electricity.\n"It might just have been some frayed wiring," Cottingham said. "But from interviews we've learned that a few individuals had turned on appliances in the kitchen that afternoon."\nKen Nunn, who owns the building and the adjoining law office, told firefighters and police that he had dropped in Tuesday to pick up some wine bottles.\nNo investigation is planned.\n"We haven't even been contacted by the fire department," said Bloomington Police Department Captain Joe Qualters. "We're not going to be looking into this."\nA pedestrian noticed smoke at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, but couldn't pinpoint its origin. By the time the fire department arrived on the scene at 7:30 p.m., the thick gray billows almost completely obscured the Monroe County Public Library, a few blocks away.\nTwo crews were immediately dispatched into the building. After the ceiling began to give way, they pulled out and took an aerial approach, pumping water from their trucks. \n"I don't think the public fully appreciates the danger level involved," Cottingham said.\nBy midnight, the firefighters managed to wrangle the blaze under control. It raged on for so long, Cottingham said, because of the number of combustibles in the building.\nAlso, he said, the building's old masonry kept the heat trapped inside, weakening its structure. Before the wrecking ball took to it, the west wall was bowed and the facade cracked in several places.\nSwitching off on 12-man shifts, the firefighters attended to minor flare-ups for 19 straight hours. Though Nunn's office, 123 S. Walnut St., has a double firewall, they were concerned that it might spread in the crowded downtown area, less than a block off Kirkwood Avenue.\n"I want to express my deepest gratitude for a job well done to the firefighters who responded to the downtown fire," Mayor John Fernandez said in a statement. "Although the fire caused a complete loss, the professionalism of these dedicated firefighters ensured the fire did not spread further and that no one was injured"
(11/20/00 5:13am)
Mike Davis' rout of Pepperdine will go down on the record books as more historic.\nBut a new era has also dawned for the women's basketball team.\nIn the season opener, coach Kathi Bennett led the Hoosiers to a 77-74 overtime win against Washington.\nAfter two consecutive losing seasons, IU brought Bennett in to turn around the program, a task at which she has a proven track record.\nShe took the long respectable Lady Titans at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh to the next level. Under her tenure, they won five conference titles, made six NCAA tournament appearances and claimed a NCAA Division III Championship. \nThe University of Evansville was impressed. So she ended up coaching in Division I. For the first two seasons, she seemed in too deep with a 9-43 record. But Bennett led the Purple Aces to an NCAA tournament berth in her third year. She then brought them to a 23-7 overall record and a 14-4 Missouri Valley mark, both school-bests.\nIn her IU debut, the Hoosiers appeared ready to go. They nursed a lead for most of the game, which reached as many as 11 points midway through the second half. They played aggressive defense, forcing 20 turnovers. \nAnd while they only shot 41.8 percent from the field, they moved the ball around. \nBennett couldn't speak highly enough of the teamwork.\n"It is so deserving to be rewarded for the effort we put out," she said. "We really showed teamwork and toughness."\nHuskies coach June Daugherty questioned the outcome of the game. After junior guard Tara Jones missed two free-throws with nine-tenths of a second left, a skirmish for the rebound sent the ball out of bounds. The Hoosiers inbounded from the baseline, and junior guard Heather Cassady found Jones for the game-winning basket. \n"You can't go from pass to shot in 0.3 seconds," Daugherty said. "It should have gone to double overtime."\nBut she commended Bennett for the Hoosiers' performance. \n"I have to congratulate them for a hard-fought game," Daugherty said. "They hurt us from the long range." \nBut it was defense that won the game. While the Huskies only went 8-22 last season, they're known for their explosive backcourt. \nSophomore guard Loree Payne is sitting out four to five weeks with a fractured foot. Even so, All Pac-10 guard Megan Franza, who averaged 17.2 points per game last year, also could have turned the tide.\nBennett played Jones for 40 minutes, having her aggressively hound Franza. In the first half, the strategy worked. Franza shot 0 for 6 from the field.\n"I just kept telling myself, 'got to stop her,'" Jones said. \nFranza eventually led the Huskies to a second-half rally and finished the game with 23 points. But without her early offensive presence, the Hoosiers were able to set the tone.
(11/20/00 4:53am)
It's a world of clock watchers, bureaucrats, office holders -- what it is, it's a screwed up world... there's no adventure to it. Dying breed. Yes it is. We are the members of a dying breed. That's why we have to stick together.\n -- Ricky Roma, Glengarry Glen Ross\nHow far can desperation drive us?\nThat's the question raised by David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning black comedy "Glengarry Glen Ross," which is being put on as part of the Waldron Theater Series. \nIt concerns a two-bit, cutthroat real estate salesman pushing plots of land on reluctant buyers in a scramble for their fair share of the American dream. Set during the recession of the early 1980s, the hard-up characters have to cajole, connive and plead for a piece of the action.\nThe play begins with Shelly Levine making his case to John Williamson, the shill office manager who follows the orders of the firm's owners to the letter. Levine is old school, having been in subdivision sales for years. He can no longer close sales the way he once did, which means he's no longer given premium sales leads. Williamson stands firm on company policy, shrugging off Levine's copious verbal abuse.\nIt then cuts to a scene at a bar, in which Dave Moss is having a drink with the office wimp, George Aarnow. In need of money, Moss has hatched a scheme to break into the office and sell the leads to Joey Graf, who runs a real estate firm down the street.\nGiven Mamet's verbal finesse, it's no coincidence that his name often comes off the lips as "graft." At any rate, Aarnow won't bite, but Moss convinces him to keep his mouth shut. Off-stage, Moss later enlists the disgruntled Levine.\nAmong the company's salesman, the only one not down in the mouth is the Richard Roma, a slick hotshot whose lead in the monthly sales contest will mean a new Cadillac. He's not resented by his colleagues, he closes his deals and he's earned their begrudging respect.\nThe second act deals with the aftermath of the robbery, which was pulled off that night. While the police are investigating the robbery as an inside job, one of Levine's customers enters the office asking to back out of a contract. Only experienced in the bureaucratic side of things, Williamson ruins Levine's sale by telling the customer his check has already been cashed. The salesmen proceed to tear into the hapless manager, and a slip of the tongue brings the truth to light.\nIn one of the most masterfully acted scenes of the plays, Levine tries to talk Williamson out of going to the police with it. His salesman instincts kick in and take over, and he attempts to present the entire incident as an opportunity for growth.\nAn old hand in local theater, Jim Hettmer gave an exquisite performance as Levine. The character's motivations aren't drawn out as much in the play as in Mamet's screenplay, but Hettmer weary eyes and slumped back say it all.\nWith the finely honed dialogue, a Mamet play is tricky to direct. But Jeff Skora pulled it off, not overextending by always trying to ground Mamet's lyrical flights in interaction. \nMamet strives for authenticity in dialogue, including all manner of interjections and repetition of phrase. In the very impressive opening scene, Levine excitedly tells Williamson not to interrupt him again and again, though he remains entirely stolid. Levine's desperation is thereby magnified tenfold. It's just one example of how the production cuts to the heart of the play.
(11/15/00 5:03am)
Marc Haggerty was the untold story of this year's Eighth District Congressional race.\nThe scraggly-haired songwriter ran as a write-in candidate for the Green Party.\nCampaigning only in Monroe County and shunning media attention, he kept a low profile.\n"I only campaigned for the last month because I had to work, and I couldn't afford to take time off," he said. "I need to support myself just like everyone else."\nRefusing to even have his picture taken for the local newspapers, Haggerty relied mostly on word of mouth. To build up support, he made the rounds at activist meetings and rallies.\n"I attended any meeting with a Green Party angle, like I-69 or sweatshops," he said. "We reached hundreds of people."\nWhen all the ballots were counted, he had 269 votes.\nBut, hoping to mount a more visible campaign, the Green Party already has its sights set on 2002. Local activist Jeff Melton has declared his candidacy -- two years before the election.\nGenerally, Congressional candidates give it six months before they even start fund-raising.\n"I am announcing my candidacy to the public now to dramatize the lengths to which a third-party candidate must go to run a serious campaign in Indiana," he said. "This state has among the most restrictive ballot access laws in the nation."\nMany local Green Party activists are still bitter about a failed petition drive to get their presidential candidate, Ralph Nader, on the state ballot. By a mid-July deadline, they needed 31,000 signatures and came up a few thousand short.\n"When John Anderson came along in 1980, states have made it harder for independent third-party candidates to get on the ballot," said graduate student Peter Drake, the Monroe County coordinator of the Nader campaign. "In some states, you simply had to have $25. But we needed 31,000 signatures."\nDespite the obstacles, Melton hopes to launch a full-fledged campaign. He intends to stump "as much as possible" throughout the entire district, which stretches to the Kentucky border. While he said he knows he has no shot of winning, he hopes to bring his set of issues to the fore.\n"When I moved to Bloomington, we were represented by Frank McCloskey who took meritorious stands on many issues," he said. "Then we got John Hostettler in 1994. He's earned close to a zero rating from environmental groups, opposes the minimum wage and never met a giveaway to the rich that he didn't like."\nThough Nader was not on the ballot, he had a strong showing in Monroe County -- receiving 2,885 votes, or 7.1 percent of the presidential votes. Nader only won three percent nationwide.\n Melton believes many Eighth District voters are fed up with "the lack of choice" between the two major parties. He cited Hostettler's fallen Democratic challenger, Paul Perry, who towed the conservative line on issues like gun control and abortion.\n "He mirrored his Republican opponent on so many stands," Melton said. "I am tired of people having to choose between two candidates who don't really represent their needs or interests. So was his Democratic base, apparently."\nPerry lost in 11 of the district's 13 counties, including Vanderburgh -- the most populous and reliably Democratic county. While Hostettler's margin of victory was a slim 21 votes, most observers agree that a Democrat has to carry Vanderburgh going away to win in the Eighth District. \nIf elected, Melton pledges to protect the environment, fight for worker's rights and social justice, and work to abolish the death penalty. A North Carolina native, the part-time college lecturer has been immersed in progressive activism since he first protested nuclear weapons as a college student.
(11/15/00 4:55am)
Tapiolan Honka was culled from the finest women's basketball players -- in the Helsinki area.\nThe Finnish team hasn't fared so well against American opponents.\nNow 0-7 on their tour, they've been blown out in all their exhibition matches this year, outscored by an average of 50 points. Some of the more lopsided games include a 119-44 loss to No. 1 Purdue and a 101-44 defeat at the hands of Kentucky.\nFor the Boilermakers, it was little more than a practice.\n"It gave us confidence and allowed us to get a feel for things," Purdue coach Kristy Curry said. "I was really pleased."\nThe Hoosiers fared almost as well, notching an 87-39 victory at Assembly Hall Friday.\nAnd although the victory was easy, IU didn't come out of the preseason game with empty hands. \nFrom the pregame warm-ups, it was apparent the Hoosiers would have no trouble dominating the paint. They towered over Tapiolan Honka, whose tallest player is center Nina Laaksonen at 6-foot-1. By contrast, the Hoosiers boast seven players at six feet or taller, including 6-foot-4 junior starting center Jill Chapman.\nOn that front, the game offered no surprises. The Hoosiers outrebounded Tapiolan Honka 51-25.\nChapman scored 13 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in only 19 minutes of play. Still, with Tapiolan Honka mounting an aggressive defense, she didn't take the game lightly, saying she worked as hard as she always does.\nAnd Chapman said she thinks lessons from the experience might come in handy later.\n"I think I'm more aggressive when I play against taller people," she said. "I need to do that all the time."\nOffensively, the Hoosiers played the height card to full advantage, frequently feeding the ball inside. Reserve forwards Tara Jones, a senior, and Allison Skapin, a sophomore, came up big in the second half, scoring six points and eight points respectively. Jones also grabbed six rebounds, as did backup sophomore center Erika Christenson.\nAfter a 10-point loss to the Reebok Lady All Stars to start out the year, it was all part of the game plan, she said. \n"Offensively, we took good shots," Bennett said. "We didn't do that last week."\nThe Hoosiers did improve their shooting percentage, hitting 37 shots in 69 attempts from the floor. Against the Lady All Stars, they only sunk 22 of 65 field goals, a meager nine out of 34 in the second half.\nIn that game, junior guard Heather Cassady had an off-night, making only one field goal in eight attempts. Against the Finnish squad, she recovered, scoring a game-high 14 points.\nBut Cassady and fellow guard Rainey Alting, a senior, focused their efforts more on moving around the ball from the top of the key against the Finnish team. At the end, Alting had tallied a game-high six assists.\nTheir numbers might seem like nothing to write home about. But unlike with the Lady All Stars, the statistics were spread fairly evenly across the field.\nBy the final buzzer, most of the women got in at least 10 minutes of playing time.\n"We got to play 13 players hard tonight," Bennett said. "Usually, 10 is very nice."\nAnd beyond better ball movement and shooting judgment, the Hoosiers came out of the preseason game better prepared to face a full-court press.\nAfter IU leaped out to a 12-0 lead, Tapiolan Honka turned on the pressure from baseline to baseline, forcing 17 turnovers in the first half. In one sequence midway through the half, the Hoosiers lost possession of the ball five times in two minutes before Cassady broke the streak by sinking a three-pointer.\n"We hadn't practiced for a full-court defense," Bennett said. "But it's something we have to address."\nAlso, Bennett said the win would raise morale.\n"We played hard for 40 minutes," she said. "Hopefully, this will build up some confidence"